The ugly face of money politics is back
Najib’s financial handouts show that BN and money politics go hand in hand.
The 2012 budget is seen as Najib’s an attempt to regain what BN lost in the last general election (GE), five states and the people’s trust.
Jeswan Kaur, Free Malaysia Today
It’s raining money in Malaysia. And the man who is opening the purse strings is none other than Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak.
This is nothing new. Everytime an election is round the corner, financial aid is given to all and sundry. The one-off handouts is an attempt to make the rakyat think favourably towards Barisan Nasional.
First, he targetted the students.Najib decided to give an estimated 1.3 million students in private and local higher learning institutions book vouchers worth RM200.
While primary and secondary school students have been offered RM100 cash allowance. And beginning next year, education in government primary and secondary schools in the country will be provided at no cost.
Riding on his “People First” mantra, Najib enticed the people with a one-off grant of RM500 to households with a montly income of RM3,000 and below.
Najib told Malaysians that all this would cost the government RM1.8 billion and will benefit some 3.4 million people or 53 per cent of households.
Now for the real equation.Would the 3.4 million blindly vote for Barisan Nasional?
The truth however is that the promises made through the 2012 budget seem too good to be true, so much so that some even see the budget as “unrealistic”.
A scheme to buy loyalty
The 2012 budget is seen as Najib’s an attempt to regain what BN lost in the last general election (GE), five states and the people’s trust.
Indeed, had the rakyat’s concern been Najib’s priority, the 41 families who once worked the Bukit Jalil estate and had set up home there as early as 1900s would not have been made homeless early this year by the ruthless City Hall of Kuala Lumpur.
Where was Najib when these people cried out for ‘divine’ intervention, as their humble abodes of many years were razed to the ground.
